


NYCSI

by hsxlt28



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-01-25 14:40:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21357871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hsxlt28/pseuds/hsxlt28
Summary: Don Flack's life gets turned upside down pretty quickly when he meets Emily Porter, his future girlfriend, wife, mother of his children. Does he know that when he meets her? Nope! Does she? Not a clue.Follows the script and the show. Will be rated M for later chapters.(I posted this story on FanFiction.com so I did not steal it, I'm the original author.)
Relationships: Danny Messer/Lindsay Monroe, Don Flack/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter One

  
**Chapter One**  
**Emily**  
I walk into the precinct on my first day. I follow Mac Taylor, a detective and a scientist, to my new partner's desk.  
"Flack." He looks up and our eyes lock. Damn his eyes are blue. He's got short black hair and broad shoulders. "Meet your new partner, Emily Porter." He stands. Wow he's tall.  
"Pleased to meet you. Don Flack." He holds out his hand and I grasp it. We shake once and let go.  
"Emily."  
"I specifically requested that she be put on this staff and be your new partner," Mac tells him.  
I can tell that sparked his curiosity. "Angell not good enough?"  
"No, she's getting transfered. That's her own decision. She's going into vice." Don nods. He wanders around the desk facing the side of his and taps it.  
"This will be your desk for the time being. My old partner used to love it this way but it could be time for a change. Just let me know if you want to move anything around and I'll help by moving mine." I nod. I'm a shy person unless I'm working in the field or coming up with solutions to homicides. "All right Mac, I've got it from here." Mac Taylor nods and walks away to go to the crime lab. "So where are you transferring from?"  
"Seattle PD."  
"Oh really? Seattle is like the coffee capital."  
"Of the U.S. at least. We kind of had our own Starbucks in every precinct." Don smiles. Damn his smile is so pretty.  
"How old are you?"  
"Twenty-eight. What's with the interrogation, Detective Flack? I thought I was in the clear," I say smiling, knowing it's a joke and so does he.  
"Just trying to figure you out."  
"And listen to my west coast accent. It's so different from here."  
"Don't worry, you'll be talking like a New Yorker soon enough."  
"Wonderful, just what my family wants to hear when I call them at Christmas; is this a prank call?" I say imitating their voices. Don laughs. "How old are you?"  
Instead of his answer to my question, we hear his phone go off and assign him, us, a case. "Here's your first case in homicide."  
"Yipee."

* * *

Turns out the murdered is a deaf girl and she was shot. Don and I walk outside of the house. We talked to first responders while we waited for Mac and his team to get down here.  
"Anybody been inside?"  
"Yeah, us and first on scene," Don replies.   
"Radio said there was a gun shot victim."  
"Yeah, Allison Mitchum. She's nineteen. The mother is overthere in the back of the bus with the baby, a neighbor told us that the husband was out of town on business. No witnesses," I tell Stella Bonasera.  
"We've got unis and plain clothes combing the neighborhood and K-9 is on their way up to see if they can pick up a scent."  
"Were there signs of a robbery?"  
"Aside from Allison's life, nothing was taken."

* * *

Don and I go back to the precinct for a long night ahead of us. I brew the coffee and we go over paper work. He teaches me how this precinct like things to go and I learn a lot after that on my own. I take my first sip of the coffee here and I spit it back out into the cup.  
"Hot?"  
"A bit. But it's disgusting."  
"Well we don't have the luxury you used to. You'll get used to it. It's not like you can go out and buy coffee every few hours here. It's just not possible on a cop's salary."  
"I know, they discounted stuff all the time for us because we are cops and then they would save our coffees if we were called out unexpectedly. They memorized our badge numbers."  
"What's your badge number?"  
"8019. It was my dad's."  
"My old partner's badge was her father's as well."  
"I wear it because it honors my dad. He died in the field. He was shot and the vests weren't as great back then and he died when I was a teenager. It's been at least ten years."  
"Em, I'm sorry."  
"It's fine. I'm sad again but I'm not going to act like I did when the cops came to the school and told me."

* * *

**Flashback**   
_ "Right, he's so cute. I wonder what he looks like with his shirt off," I say to a friend about our teacher. We were the typical teenage girls. I watch someone with a note come in and hand it to our teacher. His eyes scan over it and he looks at me and gets up. He hands it to me and it says to go to the office immediately. "I've got to go. My dad must be off work and must be ready to take me home."_   
_ "Bye, Emily!"_   
_ "Bye, Allie!" I walk to the office texting some friends. When I walk in I see a couple detectives that work with my dad and our families are really close. My eyes go wide. "What are you two doing here?"_   
_ "Emily, your dad. He, he was shot. On the way to the hospital, on the bus, he, he didn't make it." I drop to ground, feeling my stomach drop to the deepest parts of the abyss that is my soul. The one that was quiet the whole time bends and sits next to me, hugging me to himself._   
_ "No!" I shout into his shoulder, hysterical. He even called me in the car to tell me he was going to a dangerous bust._

* * *

"His last words to me were, 'Em, I love you'. I was very worried when he called and I was anxious and a friend of mine knew what was going down so she distracted me by talking about our teacher at the time. He was very attractive." Don smirks. "Hey so what do you want me to call you? Don? Flack? Don Flack?" I laugh.  
"Either one. If you call me by my full name, I'm going to think you're mad at me."  
"I'll keep that in mind."  
"Thirty-one."  
"What?"  
"That's how old I am."  
"Well thanks for answering my question, Detective. What grade are you? First?"  
"Yeah."  
"That's what I thought. I'm second. Almost to first. Then I got transfered."  
"You'll get there."

* * *

I go home that night around one in the morning to an empty apartment. I lay my purse down on the counter. I live, surprisingly, in a one bedroom apartment. It's nice. I like it.  
I go to the bathroom and I turn on the hot water for a shower. And thank goodness it's hot. I get undressed and I let the hot water rain down on my sore back.  
Being a cop has it's perks but the stress of the job really gets to some people. Some people like the constant chaos of it. I'm one of those people. But at the same time, I like an easy case where we see the killer kill or the robber rob and then we arrest him/her. The case reports are easy.  
God, I hate writing case reports. Theyre so tedious. I ususally write them as I'm working the case.  
After my shower, I dry myself off and throw on a large, cotton t-shirt and some underwear and I crawl into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

* * *

Mac calls me in to help him question Gina Mitchum, the deaf mother.  
"What do you think woke you up?" Mac asks. I sign right after.  
"Footsteps. I felt vibrations. I thought maybe it was Allison," I recite back to Mac.  
"You recently moved to the North Bronx from the Upper Eastside. Do you have family living there?" I signed the words to Gina.  
"My husband and I weren't planning on having any more children. When I got pregnant,my husband and I decided to raise elizabeth outside the city, where it's safe," I say to Mac.  
"Your husband's a lawyer. Did he have any enemies or recent problems at work?" She stares at him like hes crazy.  
"My husband didn't kill Allison."  
"That wasn't my question." I sign.  
"You speak with your eyes," I recite. "Dennis wasn't home last night. He was in Hong Kong on business. As soon as I called him, he jumped on the first flight home. He arrives this afternoon. As far as I know, he's never had a problem at work."  
"What about Allison? Friends? Boyfriends?" I sign.  
"She was seeing a boy. Seth Wolf. And they'd been fighting recently."  
"Do you know why?"  
"Allison's priorities changed when elizabeth was born. She started spending a lot of time with her baby sister. And Seth didn't like being in second place."  
Mac pulls me out of the room when we are finished and we tell her that she is free to go.  
"Wanna experience autopsy?" Mac asks me. "Well to warn you, things aren't good right now."  
"Well of course I wanna go but if things aren't good..." I trail. "Can you tell me why?" I ask.  
"I'll tell you about it later."

* * *

"Emily," I hear. I look up and I see Mac coming towards my desk. I save whatever draft of the report I'm working on right now and I give him my undivided attention. "Mrs. Mitchum is not the baby's mother. Her daughter is."  
"Oh Lord. All right do you need me to go back in with you as a translator?"  
"If you would." I nod.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you tell us Allison was the baby's mother?" I sign to Gina.  
"You have to understand something. Elizabeth is the reason we moved to the North Bronx. When our daughter got pregnant, we tried to hide it, but it just got way too hard," I recite.  
"So, you relocated to avoid the social stigma associated with a teenage pregnancy." I sign his words.  
"I love my daughter. I don't want to see her have to deal with that. I supported her decision to have the baby, including making people think the child was my own," I tell Mac. "Mac, it makes sense."  
"I know."

* * *

Later that day, Mac put Don and I into questioning. He knows I've got a reputation in getting information out of people but I'm not the best observer. That's what Don is here for. He's great at everything he does.  
"Do you know why you are here?" I ask. The man shakes his head. "Well Allison Mitchum is dead. Her baby is still alive. We've been told that you're the father." My technique was using the blunt truth.  
"My baby? No way."  
"Are you telling us that you didn't know Allison was pregnant?" Don asks. I take out a piece of paper and hand it to him. "Is this not your name on Elizabeth's birth certificate?"  
"I have no idea how my name got on there." He starts sweating and his face turns a light shade of pink. "Honestly. If this were true she would have told me."  
"Seth," Mac starts. "You were expelled from Columbia six months ago. You were caught cheating. 4.0 you got your freshman year was bought and paid for."  
"I don't see the point." I get why he brings it up.  
"The point is, you're a proven liar," I say. "Why don't you tell us what you were doing in the nursery last night."  
"You think I killed Allison?" Seth looks at me.  
"'Seth, we're thinking Allison asked you to step up to the plate, man up. But you just weren't ready to settle down so you decided to do something about it," I tell him.  
"Wrong. Look, I suppose there is a possibility I could be the father. But I had no idea until you told me. You think I'd marry her? She's deaf." He says chuckling.   
"You're a real piece of work," Mac says. I storm out of the room before I hear what Don has to say. I go back to my desk and I sit down before I go back in and hit him in the face.  
Don comes back out a few minutes later. He's angry.  
"What's up with you, Emily?" He asks when he sits down at his desk.  
"I just hate the fact that he made fun of her because she was deaf. A very good friend of mine was deaf. She started talking to me one day and I learned sign language during the time when we were really close. We still talk but we don't see each other. She and I would always talk in class. We used to pass notes all the time. She was new when she started talking to me and it was nice to have a friend I could talk to and no one knew what I was saying. She was very observant."  
"So you took this that seriously then?"  
"Yes. I did. I feel really shitty about it but I don't care what you or Mac says. It's something that could have happened to anyone." I push my hair out of my face. "Did you get the prints and DNA?"  
"Yes. Mac got them and he was out before me."  
"I didn't even notice."

* * *

Soon I see Stella walking into the precinct, heading straight for me.  
"Oh no, did I do something wrong?"  
"No, not at all," Stella says. "In fact you're doing wonderful but I need your help. More specifically Lindsay needs your help."  
"And Lindsay is?"  
"Lindsay Monroe. I'm sure you'll work with her at some point, but she could really use a friend right now. I know you don't know her but she knows about you, in fact we all do."  
"We?" I ask, sitting back in my chair.  
"The crime lab. Mac is always talking about you. We all feel as if we know you. You and Lindsay are closer to the same age and I'm sure you two would get along a lot better."  
"Okay, I can speak with her.

* * *

Later in the day, Don and I are talking about the fact that Seth isn't the father and someone else is, Cole Rowen. Mac found his prints at the house and on a shotgun license. I go to the lab and I talk with Allison's parents for Mac.  
"What if, now this is just a theory, but what if the killer wasn't there to kill. He must have know that the family is deaf so he probably thought that he could sneak in and steal Elizabeth right out from under the mother's nose," I tell Don.  
"Then Alison wakes up and catches him."  
"He gets spooked, then maybe starts fighting with Allison, and accidentally shoots her."  
"Sounds like a good theory. Lets get a warrent and check out his house."

* * *

Don and I go to Mac's office in the crime lab.  
"All right, here's the deal. Cole Rowen didn't go to the Mitchum house to kill Allison. He went there to kidnap Elizabeth," I tell Mac.  
The shock on his face is evident. "How do you know?"  
"We hit Cole's apartment. He wasn't there but we found a lot of brand new baby stuff," Don tells him.  
"Crib, diapers, formula. Cole was getting ready to play daddy," I finish. Mac gets on the phone and dials Gina's hotel room number.  
"Gina's not at her hotel." We start thinking of possible ways to approach this without anyone getting hurt or someone finding out. Mac's phone rings and he answers.  
"I want Elizabeth. My daughter's coming with me. Turn left at the light." He says.  
"Call Sheldon. Give him Gina's number, have him trianglulate a cell signal, get us a location. Cole Rowen has Gina and the baby." Don and I follow him out and he gets on the phone immediately.  
"This is Flack, give me dispatch." Don explains what is going on and we go downstairs after we talk to Sheldon, who is very nice, and we get in the car. We speed up and turn the lights and siren on. "Repeat, we've got a hostage situation. Notify highway, ESU, and hostage negotiater. Stand by for further instruction." I have Mac's phone and we listen to Cole scream at Gina and the baby crying in the background. Thank goodness she won't remember this.  
"Once we get out of the city, I'll let you go. But you have to promise me something. You have to tell the police that I didn't mean to kill Allison. It was an accident."  
"Accident my ass," I mumble.  
"We were fighting. I'm sorry! It didn't have to come to this, but I deserve to have a say in how my kid is raised."  
Don turns to me. "I just got a 911 from Dennis Mitchum, Gina's husband. He reported the abduction. Santucci's on his way to pick him up." His phone rings again. "Flack. Yeah. Great, where?" He hangs up a second later. "We got him." He's so calm through out this entire situation. He must have done this, sadly, a million times before. "North bound, headed toward the bridge at 155."  
We catch up and I get out of the vehicle with Don. We have our Kevlar vests on and our guns are at our sides, ready for the draw. Don gives instrunction to some by standing officers and I walk up to the front of the crowd of police cars, observing the scene. I see Mac pass me and continue to walk to the car. He starts talking to Cole.  
"What's that?" Don asks as something flies at Mac.  
"An external transmitter. Cole can't hear without it," I tell him.  
"Come with me," he tells me. "I got an idea." We walk around to the other side of the car and we sneak up and Gina sees us. I tell her to roll the back window down where Elizabeth is. She does. Don reaches in and he picks up baby Elizabeth and hands her to me and I hold her to my chest as I turn away from the car quickly. I wanted to protect this life from as much as possible. I run to the crowd of police with Elizabeth while Don and Mac run into action and arrest Cole.  
Walking up to Elizabeth's grandfather, Dennis, I get really close to him as I hand over Elizabeth. I sign that she is a gorgeous baby and he smiles. He pulls me into a hug as a thank you and I smile, glad that the rest of the family is safe. Heartbroken, but safe.

* * *

Don walks up to me after everything is over and we are back at the precinct. He starts talking. "We did good tonight. I didn't know how you would do but you're better than I expected."  
"I'm glad I'm a good cop."  
"You're a good detective."  
"Thanks Don."  
"You're the only one who ever calls me that."  
"I am?"  
"Mac does every once in a while. You call me Don all the time. I like it. Everyone else calls me Flack all the time."  
"Good, cause I'm going to keep calling you Don. It's your name." He smirks.  
"Yes ma'am."

* * *

The next morning, I wander up to the crime lab and I quickly find whom I pressume to be Lindsay.  
"Excuse me, Lindsay?" I ask.  
"Yes?" She asks, looking up.  
"I heard you're having a rough time right now with the case you were on. I'm not a therapist, I swear. I'm Don Flack's new partner, Detective Porter."  
"Oh, Emily. It's nice to finally meet you. I don't need a shoulder to cry on. Really, I'm-I'm fine."  
"I understand. Boy do I understand. Just know, that if you want to talk, I'm here. Just say the word and I'll listen." She struggles with a smile, but one does appear.  
"Okay. Thank you."  
"Of course."


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**   
**Emily**

A few weeks went by without any thing extremely serious happen. Flack flirted with me. We found this transgender person in the men's bathroom, it was a man trying to become a woman, and Stella asked what a woman was doing in the men's bathroom and Don, being the person that I've learned him to be, says to me, "oh I can think of a few reasons. All with happier endings." I rolled my eyes at him and we went on the solve the case as is.

Then there was this case. A deranged crazy woman thought her own refection was someone else and hated it. She thought it killed her brother when in fact she accidently pushed him into the several hundred gallon tank and while Stella, a person who has grown to be a good friend of mine, cut herself on a piece of glass with blood on it. The victim's blood. If you're wondering why this is such a big deal, it's because the victim, had HIV. It was rapidly changing into AIDS.

Thankfully it wasn't. She came to me in the precinct and told me when she got the news back that it wasn't. I had gone with her to get her blood drawn and she was grateful for me. I didn't tell a soul and she knew it too. She didn't have to ask me because I know that that stuff is private.

Lindsay talked to me about the stuff that happened to her back in Montana. She's there right now testifying.

There is this case. The case that Don finally asks me out on a sort of date.

* * *

I'm observing Mac and Stella with the crime scene when Don walks in. He's so attractive with his tall, well-put together suit, blue eyes, and short black hair. I guess it was a lot longer but then he cut it and he's just so damn attractive.

"Our vic's still a Jane Doe. We're checking missing persons," Don says walking in.

"Who found her?" Stel asks.

"Night watchman. 75 years old. The paramedics are treating him for shock. Did you get a chance to talk to him, Don?"

"He gave me grunts and one word answers. But we've got enough. I'll send a uni in to get his statement. Says he left to check out the Luke Blade stunt, he came back, found the vic."

"Luke Blade. He sawed himself in half, right?" Mac asks.

"Yeah, it's part of his three tricks in three nights thing."

"Oh yeah! You and I were talking about that a few days ago during lunch. Isn't it all a big secret what he's gonna do each night?"

"I think so. It's called Luke Blade: Death Becomes You or something like that."

"Becomes me. It's Death Becomes Me." He looks at me. "What? You need to have correct information for when we present this to a jury." Don rolls his eyes smirking slightly. Stella looks at me with a knowing look.

"Could be a copycat, could be a coincidence. I'm going to check on the security guard," Don says. I stay and I watch Mac and Stella do their thing.

"Stella, transfer the body. Let's get Sid working on this as fast as possible."

"All right, guys, let's do it."

"No signs of forced entry," Danny says walking in. "Wow, I gotta say, of all the bodies, this is on the top ten 'most twisted' list."

"Yeah, it's no ordinary slice of life," I tell him.

"Have you been hanging around Mac lately?" Danny asks me.

"Just a little bit." He chuckles.

"You work around the clock last night?" Mac asks.

"I had a grand jury, search warrant hearing, then a 4:00 to 12:00, and that rolled into a midnight. I'm catching my fourth wind I'm all right."

"Check the rest of the stage," Mac orders.

"Mac what are you thinking?" I ask, croutching down next to him.

"I'm thinking that whoever did this, must have had this planned. You can't just saw someone in half 'accidentally' or because it was spur of the moment. That's not a thing that happens."

I nod, letting him get back to work.

* * *

After quiet a few hours of paper work and a few cups of coffee, Don and I were sent on another mission, to track down Rupert Lanigan. We walk into his magic shop and we stand there waiting for him to stop his magic act.

"Rise tiny creature. Rise. Go forth into the world and prosper." He waves his hand over the fly several times. "Welcome to Magic Paradise, gentleman and gentle lady, where anything is possible, if you believe in magic." It rights itself and flies off.

"Fake fly?" Don turns and asks me.

I run my finger over where the fly was laying. "Sodium Chloride. Introducing a fine, nearly invisible pinch of salt onto the waterlogged fly reestablished the salt to water equilibrium necessary to enable the fly to conduct its cellular metabolism."  
  
"I like the fake fly theory better."

"What are you, the magic police?" Rupert asks, his accent very strong.

"That was easy to explain." I hand him pictures of the dead woman. "This is a little trickier." 

"Is that Vienna? Did something happen to her?"  
  
"She was murdered last night," I tell him.

"You think you can wave your hand over her, bring her back to life?" Don asks, being a smart ass.

"Your fingerprint was found on the wooden box."

"We sell these boxes here. They're too big to have on display, so I store them upstairs. I might've handled that one."  
  
"Tell me about you and Vienna," I ask.

"I love Vienna.

"Yeah, and nothing says I love you back like an order of protection," Don says.

"She used to come into the store a lot, did Luke Blade's shopping. She was a big flirt. I might've taken it the wrong way, went a little too far."

"No, no, no. You went John Hinckley on her, Rupert. Come on, three arrests in two months?" Don asks.

"Why was she shopping for Luke Blade?" I ask.

"She was his assistant."

"What were you doing last night between 8:00 and 10:00?" I ask.

"I was in hours 15 and 16 of my anger management class listening to some bloke blame his dead ma for punching a meter maid in the face. Part of my probation. Check it out, if you'd like. Now, anything else?"  
  
"We'll take this." I put down a Luke Blade CD and I fork over ten dollars. Don and I walk out and he turns to me.  
  
"You think Luke Blade was involved?"

"He's connected to the victim and time of death doesn't rule him out. When mind, body, and spirit come together, anything is possible. Even murder." I tap the Mind, Body, and Spirit symbol on the corner of the CD case.

"So what was that science lesson about back there?"

"I took a few forensics and chem classes in college. Techncally, I got a degree in forensics. That's why I'm a second grade detective."

"But you were good back there. You should be a first grade."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Yeah, I bet it must be strange being back in Montana. So how's the trial going?"

"Good. At least the prosecutor says it is."

"When do you have to testify?" I ask.

"This afternoon. It's weird. I've testified in this building maybe a hundred times, but always as a forensic expert, never as a witness to a crime."

"Now you just get up there and you tell the truth. Look, I know it's tough being on the stand, but there's a few things you should remember. Make eye contact with those jurors. You're the only eyewitness, and if you can make a connection with them, if they can look you in the eye, they'll understand what you went through. And when you're on the cross- exam, keep your answers short. Don't give them any ammunition to attack you. That will allow the DA to object if necessary and your response won't have to be stricken from the record. Lindsay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I-I'll remember."  
  
"Hang in there, Linds."

"If you need anything, give me a call."

"Thanks, Emily.  
  
"Say hi to everyone for me."

"Will do." I hang up.

* * *

That night, Don, Stella, Mac, Danny, and I went to the last few minutes of Luke Blade's stunt where he sets himself on fire then to talk to Austin, Luke Blades illusion manager. It was odd to see someone on fire and not screaming in pain like in the movies. The crowd counts down the last ten seconds and he falls but when the smoke from the extinguishers is gone, he pulls back the hood and it is revealed that he blew himself out.

Mac gets a call in the middle of the end and him and Danny wander off and tells Stella that Austin is dead in an alley. We shuffle out of there. Stella first then me and Don follows with his hand on the small of my back. I don't think anything of it because I don't want to look into it and then get disappointed.

Don and I get in the car we came in and drive off.

"So, Em."

"Yes?"  
  
"What would you say to pizza and some beers and a movie at my place on Friday?"

"I would say yes."

"Great," he says after flashing me a charming smile. "I'll just pick you up after work."

"Okay."

* * *

Later on Sheldon Hawkes, the coolest ex-medical examiner in the world, comes down to the precinct and tells us that we need to go talk to Rupert again with some photos of different items and ask him about them. So Don and I agree and we get back into the car and drive off toward the magic shop.

"Well, well if it isn't the great debunker. What can I do for you this time, detectives?

"We are looking for a way to make our caseload disappear, Rupert. You got that in your bag of tricks?"

"They're not tricks, they're illusions."

"Whatever."

"Actually, we're looking for these items," I say handing him more pictures. "Are they sold separately or they come in some sort of kit?

"You won't find these on any shelf. This stuff dates back maybe 30 years."

"You know where we can find them?"

"Our shop manufactured a bunch of kits, but only-only one included handcuffs. I might have one out back."

"Would you do us a favor and look?" He turns away to go looking for us.

"He likes you," Don says.

"What? No. He's just being polite because if he doesn't cooperate he can be charged with obstruction of justice."

"And he thinks you're pretty." I raise my eyebrows.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Pft. No," he says as a pink blush graced his cheeks and the tops of his ears. I'm about to start talking again but Rupert walks back out.

"This is what you're looking for. It has all three items you showed me in those photographs. You better return this, though. It's a collector's item. I don't want to find out you two pulled a Houdini on me." I stifle a laugh.

"Thank you." Don and I walk out and his hand is on my lower back again as he leads me to the car. He opens the door for me and I thank him. We go to the crime lab and take the elevator up. We get the magic thing to Sheldon and we are stopped in the middle of the hall by Danny. He's grown to be a good friend. He's using the nickname thing though.

"Hey Seattle, I want you and Flack to do something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Tell Mac that I'm going away for a few days. I'm going to Montana to visit Lindsey."

"The court thing right?" He nods. "Does she know?"

"Nope. Could you not tell her? I know you two are growing close."

"Yeah, no problem. We will tell Mac right away and then I won't mention a word to Lindsey."

"Thanks Seattle." He reaches around my shoulders for a hug and I reciprocate it.

"Anytime Danny." He walks away and we head on over to Mac's office. I knock on the glass door. "Hey Mac,"

"Emily, Don. How are you?"

"Irritated and tired," I say. "I'm sure Don is the same way, right?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat. You're gonna have to drive me home one of these days."

"Good luck with persuading me to do that." I chuckle and he smiles down at me. I look back up at Mac and he's got the same look Stella had in her eyes when we found the body and Don and I were talking about the Luke Blade stuff. "Anyhow, Danny told us to tell you that he's taking some time off. Going to Montana."

"Lindsey's trial, right. Stella has been talking to her. She says it's going good."  
  
"That's good. I just hope the jury convicts this guy. He's doltish and a bunch of different and worse adjectives but still." Don looks at me with that same wonder in his eyes as when I gave the science lecture at the magic shop earlier. "I was an English freak back in high school."

"I've just never heard of the word doltish until now." I laugh when he repeats the word I said.

"That word and that accent just don't mix." He laughs as well. "All right well Mac, I think we are gong to head out. Apparently I need to drive him home. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early."

"So I'll see you at ten o'clock?"

"If you're at the precinct when I get there, then yes Mac. You will." I smile and take Don's arm, leading him away.

"You know, I'm going to get off before you do tomorrow, right?" Don points out.

"You are?"

"I get off at four."

"A whole two hours, all right. I can manage that. When do you want to do dinner?" I ask him as we step into the elevator.

"Does eight work for you?"

"Yes."

"Then that's when we'll do dinner." I smile as does he. "By the way, you don't have to drive me home. It was a joke."

"I know. If you ask at anytime, I will though. It'll save you cab fare cause no one wants to pay cab fare."

"Exactly."

* * *

The next afternoon when I come back to my desk with a fresh cup of coffee, Don gets a call from Stella asking him to track down Luke Blade. I help at every chance I get. Two brains is better than one. When I find something, Don and I are up in a flash running to the crime lab.

We run into Mac's office and he starts. "We've got to move. Em found out that Luke's people reported one of their trucks missing. LoJack just pick it up on the corner of 23rd and 11th, next to the warehouse where Luke stores his stuff."

"Showtime." Don and I get in one car and Mac and Stella in the other. We get there in record time and Mac shoots the glass container holding water and a woman, Luke's adoptive mother who gave him back. He starts screaming no and Stella and I point our weapons at him telling him to freeze and Don gets him to the ground with cuffs on his wrists. Stella and I still have our guns aimed at him when backup gets here and they get him in the back of a police car.

"That was crazy," Don says to me.

"I know. He has fetal alcohol syndrome though. It's normal for violent outbursts and tantrums to be thrown. I took child psych when I was a freshman in high school before you ask," I tell Don when I recieve a look from him.

"You are just about the smartest detective I've ever met that doesn't work in the crime lab."

"Really?"

"Most of us just have a high school diploma. Me included."

"You're a good man, Don. You're intelligent as hell too. Plus you don't curse. At all! I have a toilet mouth and I know it but you don't. You find alternatives to say what you mean. If I were you, I'd pride myself on being respectable."

"Thank you, Em."

"You're welcome." We walk away from the scene. "You know, you're the only person who has called me Em since my dad died. He was the only one to ever call me that. It was his nickname till he died. Everyone always knew, don't call Emily by her shortened name, she'll break out into tears. I kind of like hearing it come out of your mouth."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Well in that case Em, let's go get dinner and watch a movie. You deserve a little time off. You've been a great detective the past couple of days." I smile and I let him lead me away from the crime scene.

* * *

We get two pepperoni pizzas and beer. His apartment is nice, smaller than mine, but nice. His couch is super comfy too. We pick out a comedy and laugh the whole night away. It's fun and it's nice to stay in and watch a movie as a date instead of going out to dinner. We watch another movie after the one we do watch and that's when I fell asleep on Don's shoulder.

When the movie is over, I'm still sleeping and Don had fallen asleep too. We are sitting there on the couch sleeping somewhat on each other and we don't wake up until early in the morning.


	3. Update

Hi guys, so as some of you may have seen, the world has been a little crazy the last week and a half with the terrible murder of George Floyd and several others. I just wanted to get on here and say that right now does not feel like the right time to be posting on this story for multiple reasons. First being that this is obviously a cop story, and with the police brutality protests going on, it's not appropriate to be continuing with the story. Second, I'm incredibly stressed out and anxious with all things. I've been going to therapy for several months and lately just started doing Zoom meetings with my therapist so we could continue with EMDR. If you don't know what that is, look it up. I've stopped going on social media and the only people I'm talking to are my family and my girlfriend/her family. Third, I could be going back to work any day now and I don't know when it's going to happen. So that's making me anxious. There's a lot going on right now and if any one of you just want to talk, you're more than welcome to message me. I've been rereading my favorite Vampire Diaries fics and it's been making me happy. Also it's helping me remember all about vampires which is good because I've started writing an independent books about vampires which is like halfway written because of the pandemic giving me nothing to do or no one to really see.

But anyway, i just wanted to update you on why I haven't posted on this story. So in conclusion, I'm here if anyone wants to talk, #blacklivesmatter, and stay safe-wash your hands-wear a face mask.

-HSXLT28


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